RADNOR -- CNBC's Jim Cramer brought his money madness to Villanova University for two live tapings Thursday as he explained, before the show, what investments look good in Delaware County and what's the motivator behind his method.

Cramer, host of "Mad Money," visited Villanova as the 16th stop on the "Mad Money Back to School" tour since its 2006 inception.

"Money is, without a doubt, the hardest thing to deal with right now," Cramer said. "It's the least bountiful it's ever been since the '70s, maybe since the Carter period."

Yet, the key, he said, is to provide a necessity over a desire.

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"You have to think about what people need," he said. "They may want X but what they need is Y."

His foray into finances began in his youth as he scoured the market charts of The Bulletin, intrigued by their rises and falls. "That's what I did," Cramer said. "I looked at those tables. I was fascinated by them."

He also began investing. One of his first was a Jenkintown company Standard Press Steel, where some of his friends were getting hired to manufacture screws for aircraft.

"Wait a second," Cramer said he thought. "If they're hiring, they must be doing well. I'll buy the stock. It was $35. I bought seven shares."

And it's a response he offers to those who don't think they have enough money to invest.

"Thirty-five dollar stock, I buy seven shares," he said. "It goes up 10 points. Well, I make $70. At that point, (I have) $70 that I didn't have before."

Today, Cramer said that same $70 is the equivalent of $300. "If you're going to give me $300, I'm going to take it," he said.

That's partially the reason he brought his show to Radnor -- the possibility these younger people have to control their financial future.

"They have $10," he said. "If they put $10 in a mutual fund or if they ... save to $100, then buy four shares of Facebook, how do you know Facebook doesn't become a $500 (stock)? How do you know it won't happen?"

Cramer said wealth assessment certainly isn't going to happen through having a job.

"You may think your paycheck is going to go up every year but I'm going to tell you it's not," he said. "It's the old days."

Here, in Delaware County, he pointed to Boeing and Kimberly-Clark as solid investments.

"If you work at Boeing, buy Boeing because it's really good," he said. "Boeing's making a lot of money. ... Kimberly's got a good dividend. Boeing has a consistently great dividend."

He suggested investing in what's familiar.

"Look at what's around you and buy that," Cramer said. "(Boeing and Kimberly-Clark) are both fabulous companies. I like people to invest in what they can know, invest in what they can keep track of."

He shared his goal for the students. "I want them to take away hope," he said.

In fact, at his 35th year Harvard reunion last year, Cramer learned of a longitudinal study done by the school that evaluated what made his class, the Class of 1977, happy.

Some, he said, thought it was money. Others job security or where their child went to college.

They received low responses.

"It was actually off the charts with enjoyment of life," Cramer said. "It just hit me, like, 'Wow! That's what success is -- being able to enjoy life.''

That is something that propels him to do what he does on his show that he likens to a big classroom, whether it be on the road or in the television studio.

"I think doing what I do allows you to enjoy your life," Cramer said. "Investing allows you to enjoy your life."